Overview

Grade-one listed Clifton House provides 'the most remarkable catalogue of building periods from the middle ages onwards' (Pevsner).

As well as Tudor, Stuart and Georgian interiors and a magnificent staircase by Henry Bell, the tour includes the famous Elizabethan tower with its Jacobean murals and spectacular views.

The house was begun in 1250 and subsequently remodelled by owners up to the Georgian period. The huge medieval wine cellar is the earliest brick structure in Norfolk; the kitchen has the largest domestic medieval tiled pavement in England (visible through hatches) and the five-storey tower, built in the 1570s, is unique. After half a century of institutional use the house is now being restored as a family house.

Opening

Find us

Clifton House is situated in the heart of King's Lynn old town. The nearest parking is at Baker Lane or South Quay.

To reach us via public transport, regular train services run from London and Cambridge to King's Lynn, and bus services run from Peterborough and Norwich. Bus & train stations are approximately 10 minutes walk from Clifton House.

Parking

Both of the nearby car parks (at Baker Lane or South Quay) are Public Pay & Display sites.

Group Visits

Group tours are guided by owners Dr. Simon Thurley or Dr. Anna Keay and can be tailor-made to your group’s requirements. In collaboration with Dr. Paul Richards tours can be extended to other buildings in the town.

Please check the website for further information, admission times and details for our special events

Tour duration

Tour prices

Refreshments

Access notes

Opening

Find us

Clifton House is situated in the heart of King's Lynn old town. The nearest parking is at Baker Lane or South Quay.

To reach us via public transport, regular train services run from London and Cambridge to King's Lynn, and bus services run from Peterborough and Norwich. Bus & train stations are approximately 10 minutes walk from Clifton House.

Parking

Both of the nearby car parks (at Baker Lane or South Quay) are Public Pay & Display sites.

Group Visits

Group tours are guided by owners Dr. Simon Thurley or Dr. Anna Keay and can be tailor-made to your group’s requirements. In collaboration with Dr. Paul Richards tours can be extended to other buildings in the town.

Other opening

Clifton House's history and features

Clifton House is the most important house in the historic town of King’s Lynn. A merchant’s house in the heart of the town, it retains an amazing series of historic interiors dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries and is Grade 1 listed. Features of interest include two tiled floors from the later 13th century (the largest in-situ tiled floors in any secular building in Britain); the 14th-century vaulted undercroft; the five-storey Elizabethan tower and a series of rooms created by the architect Henry Bell in 1700.